During the real-estate boom, people were refinancing their homes, pulling out cash and lengthening the mortgage term.

In recent years, an opposite trend has emerged: a trend toward shorter loans. That includes 10-year loans, reports syndicated columnist Kenneth R. Harney.

Baby boomers who want to pay off their home mortgages before they retire are attracted to 10-year loans. Low interest rates make the shorter term even more appealing.

Builders began construction on 6.8% more homes in May, but the increase was all in multifamily construction.

The number of single-family homes started in May was about the same as in April, according to the latest data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau. The single-family number is a better indicator of the health of the new-construction market because it’s a less volatile statistic.

If construction continues at this pace the rest of the year, builders are on track to construct 914,000 units, including 599,000 single-family homes. That’s up 28.6% for all construction and 16.3% for single-family homes compared with May 2012.

Bank of America employees said in sworn statements they were told to lie to homeowners about loan modifications and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure rather than modifying their loans.

The allegations, which the bank denies, were made as part of a federal class-action lawsuit in Boston by homeowners who say Bank of America thwarted their attempts to take advantage of the federal Home Affordable Modification Program.

It’s official: Builders are now optimistic about the housing recovery.

The monthly National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reached 52 in June, the first time the index has exceeded 50 in seven years. Any score over 50 means that more builders see sales conditions as good rather than poor.

With the inventory of used homes for sale so tight, you’d think builders would have been ecstatic for months. But they have found it difficult to gear up to meet the demand for new homes. Rising materials costs, a shortage of lots, difficulty finding labor and other challenges have tempered builders’ ability to take advantage of the recovery.

Foreclosure activity inched up in May, a reminder that the real-estate crisis has not yet run its course in all cities.

The number of foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – increased 2% from April to May, led by an 11% increase in bank repossessions, RealtyTrac reported. But the number of repossessions was 29% below the level of last May.

Two reports released this week indicate that the shortage of homes for sale is easing, at least in some parts of the country.

While reports from both Realtor.com and Zillow.com showed that inventory was still low compared with the same time last year, both companies reported signs that the inventory shortage may be easing.

The number of homes listed for sale at Realtor.com rose 5.82% from April to May, compared with 1.77% in the same period last year. The number of homes for sale is 10.11% below last year’s level, which was 14.1% below the level of the year before.

I think it’s safe to say you will never see a house that looks anything like today’s Listing of the Week.

Dubbed “The Slammer” by its owner, Penn Jillette, one-half of the Las Vegas comedy-magic duo Penn & Teller, it’s a unique, sprawling custom compound on 8.5 acres of desert 10 miles from the Vegas strip. Asking price is $2.1 million.

The compound began to take shape in 1994, when Jillette bought an 1,800-square-foot A-frame house and hired an old friend, architect Colin Summers, to design a custom dwelling. "It’s what Penn would be if he were a house," Summers says in a video tour of the compound. You can read more about the original project here and some of the later additions here.

Home mortgage rates are beginning to rise, and that’s causing great anxiety among some would-be homebuyers who can’t find a home to buy.

According to a new analysis from the real-estate portal Trulia, interest rates could rise to 10.5%  nationally before renting would become a cheaper option than buying.

The numbers vary by city, of course. An interest rate of 5.2% tips the scales in favor of renting in San Jose, Calif., while buying would make sense in Detroit until interest rates rose to a whopping 35.8%.